Biden Says White House May Bypass Congress Over Guns

By

Colleen McCain Nelson And

Gary Fields

Updated Jan. 9, 2013 3:23 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—President
Barack Obama
is considering taking executive action to stem gun violence, Vice President
Joe Biden
said Wednesday, suggesting that some federal gun regulations will change even if support doesn't materialize in Congress.

"The president is going to act," Mr. Biden said, as he opened multiple days of meetings with interest groups as part of his assignment from Mr. Obama to draw up proposals for responding to the elementary-school shootings in Newtown, Conn. White House officials said no decisions had been made about what steps the administration would take.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo fleshes out his gun-control proposals, and Vice President Joe Biden opens two days of meetings at the White House with interest groups. Michael Amon joins The News Hub with the latest. Photo: AP.

Mr. Biden met Wednesday with gun-safety advocacy groups, as well as victims and survivors of shootings. He also made calls to governors, mayors and other local officials.

The vice president said in the private meeting he hoped to deliver recommendations to the president as soon as next week, a participant said. The meeting yielded consensus on calls for improved background checks and on bans on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, according to the participant.

Mr. Biden is likely to face resistance to most of those ideas on Thursday, when he is due to meet with the National Rifle Association, the nation's most powerful gun lobby, and other gun-rights groups.
Wal-Mart Stores
Inc.,
the country's largest seller of guns, initially said it couldn't meet Thursday with the vice president but on Wednesday said it would send a representative.

There is little sign lawmakers and advocacy groups on either side of the debate are willing to alter their stances, though room for agreement may exist in some areas, such as requiring states to increase their submission of mental-health records to the background-check system used to screen people buying guns from federally licensed dealers.

Mike Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, which wasn't invited to meet with Mr. Biden, said he didn't expect Thursday's meeting with gun-rights groups to be constructive. "They are being summoned" and will be "lectured," he said.

The NRA declined to comment on what it expects will happen at the meeting. The organization, which last month called for a national campaign to place armed security in the nation's schools, sent a letter to members of Congress last week saying it planned to be a constructive voice in the debate while emphasizing that "gun bans do not work."

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One person who has taken part in several of Mr. Biden's meetings said one issue has been what role the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives should have. A law-enforcement official involved in the talks said the administration has questioned whether the ATF should be given a new mission or moved into another agency.

Some states are trying to advance their own measures. New York Gov.
Andrew Cuomo
proposed broad changes to the state's gun laws Wednesday, putting New York on track to be the first to revamp its gun laws following the Newtown shootings.

New York already has some of the nation's strictest gun laws, including an assault-weapons ban, but Mr. Cuomo directed his calls for change at so-called loopholes in the laws.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy is pushing for a law banning large-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones authorities say accused gunman
Adam Lanza
used in the Newtown shooting.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System, one of the state's largest pension funds, said Wednesday it would sell its holdings in firms making firearms that are illegal in the state.

— Laura Nahmias, Shelly Banjo and Joseph De Avila contributed to this article.

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